Wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to the wheat cultivar designated WB06-1702-2. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing wheat plants by crossing the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 with itself or another wheat cultivar and plants produced by such methods.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No.62/126,043, filed Feb. 27, 2015, which is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of wheat breeding.In particular, the invention relates to the new and distinctive wheatcultivar WB06-1702-2.

Description of Related Art

There are numerous steps in the development of any novel, desirableplant germplasm. Plant breeding begins with the analysis and definitionof problems and weaknesses of the current germplasm, the establishmentof program goals, and the definition of specific breeding objectives.The next step is selection of germplasm that possess the traits to meetthe program goals. The goal is to combine in a single variety animproved combination of desirable traits from the parental germplasm.These important traits may include higher seed yield, resistance todiseases and insects, better stems and roots, tolerance to drought andheat, better agronomic quality, resistance to herbicides, andimprovements in compositional traits.

Wheat may be classified into six different market classes. Five ofthese, including common wheat, hard red winter, hard red spring, softred winter, and white, belong to the species Triticum aestivum L., andthe sixth, durum, belongs to the species Triticum turgidum L. Wheat maybe used to produce a variety of products, including, but not limited to,grain, flour, baked goods, cereals, crackers, pasta, beverages,livestock feed, biofuel, straw, construction materials, and starches.The hard wheat classes are milled into flour used for breads, while thesoft wheat classes are milled into flour used for pastries and crackers.Wheat starch is used in the food and paper industries as laundrystarches, among other products.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention relates to seed of the wheatcultivar WB06-1702-2. The invention also relates to plants produced bygrowing the seed of the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2, as well as thederivatives of such plants. Further provided are plant parts, includingcells, plant protoplasts, plant cells of a tissue culture from whichwheat plants can be regenerated, plant calli, plant clumps, and plantcells that are intact in plants or parts of plants, such as leaves,stems, roots, root tips, anthers, pistils, seed, grain, pericarp,embryo, pollen, ovules, cotyledon, hypocotyl, spike, floret, awn, lemma,shoot, tissue, petiole, cells, and meristematic cells, and the like.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a composition comprising aseed of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 comprised in plant seed growth media.In certain embodiments, the plant seed growth media is a soil orsynthetic cultivation medium. In specific embodiments, the growth mediummay be comprised in a container or may, for example, be soil in a field.Plant seed growth media are well known to those of skill in the art andinclude, but are in no way limited to, soil or synthetic cultivationmedium. Advantageously, plant seed growth media can provide adequatephysical support for seeds and can retain moisture and/or nutritionalcomponents. Examples of characteristics for soils that may be desirablein certain embodiments can be found, for instance, in U.S. Pat. Nos.3,932,166 and 4,707,176. Synthetic plant cultivation media are also wellknown in the art and may, in certain embodiments, comprise polymers orhydrogels. Examples of such compositions are described, for example, inU.S. Pat. No. 4,241,537.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a tissue culture ofregenerable cells of the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2, as well as plantsregenerated therefrom, wherein the regenerated wheat plant is capable ofexpressing all the morphological and physiological characteristics of aplant grown from the wheat seed designated WB06-1702-2.

Yet another aspect of the current invention is a wheat plant of thewheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 further comprising a single locus conversion.In one embodiment, the wheat plant is defined as comprising the singlelocus conversion and otherwise capable of expressing all of themorphological and physiological characteristics of the wheat cultivarWB06-1702-2. In particular embodiments of the invention, the singlelocus conversion may comprise a transgenic gene which has beenintroduced by genetic transformation into the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2or a progenitor thereof. In still other embodiments of the invention,the single locus conversion may comprise a dominant or recessive allele.The locus conversion may confer potentially any trait upon the singlelocus converted plant, including, but not limited to, herbicideresistance, insect resistance, resistance to bacterial, fungal, or viraldisease, male fertility or sterility, and improved nutritional quality.

Still yet another aspect of the invention relates to a first generation(F₁) hybrid wheat seed produced by crossing a plant of the wheatcultivar WB06-1702-2 to a second wheat plant. Also included in theinvention are the F₁ hybrid wheat plants grown from the hybrid seedproduced by crossing the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 to a second wheatplant. Still further included in the invention are the seeds of an F₁hybrid plant produced with the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 as one parent,the second generation (F₂) hybrid wheat plant grown from the seed of theF₁ hybrid plant, and the seeds of the F₂ hybrid plant.

Still yet another aspect of the invention is a method of producing wheatseeds comprising crossing a plant of the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 toany second wheat plant, including itself or another plant of thecultivar WB06-1702-2. In particular embodiments of the invention, themethod of crossing comprises the steps of: (a) planting seeds of thewheat cultivar WB06-1702-2; (b) cultivating wheat plants resulting fromsaid seeds until said plants bear flowers; (c) allowing fertilization ofthe flowers of said plants; and (d) harvesting seeds produced from saidplants.

Still yet another aspect of the invention is a method of producinghybrid wheat seeds comprising crossing the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 toa second, distinct wheat plant that is nonisogenic to the wheat cultivarWB06-1702-2. In particular embodiments of the invention, the crossingcomprises the steps of: (a) planting seeds of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2and a second, distinct wheat plant, (b) cultivating the wheat plantsgrown from the seeds until the plants bear flowers; (c) crosspollinating a flower on one of the two plants with the pollen of theother plant, and (d) harvesting the seeds resulting from the crosspollinating.

Still yet another aspect of the invention is a method for developing awheat plant in a wheat breeding program comprising: (a) obtaining awheat plant, or its parts, of the cultivar WB06-1702-2; and (b)employing said plant or parts as a source of breeding material usingplant breeding techniques. In the method, the plant breeding techniquesmay be selected from the group consisting of recurrent selection, massselection, bulk selection, backcrossing, pedigree breeding, geneticmarker-assisted selection and genetic transformation. In certainembodiments of the invention, the wheat plant of cultivar WB06-1702-2may be used as the male or female parent.

Still yet another aspect of the invention is a method of producing awheat plant derived from the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2, the methodcomprising the steps of: (a) preparing a progeny plant derived fromwheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 by crossing a plant of the wheat cultivarWB06-1702-2 with a second wheat plant; and (b) crossing the progenyplant with itself or a second plant to produce a progeny plant of asubsequent generation which is derived from a plant of the wheatcultivar WB06-1702-2. In one embodiment of the invention, the methodfurther comprises: (c) crossing the progeny plant of a subsequentgeneration with itself or a second plant; and (d) repeating steps (b)and (c) for, in some embodiments, at least 2, 3, 4 or more additionalgenerations to produce an inbred wheat plant derived from the wheatcultivar WB06-1702-2. Also provided by the invention is a plant producedby this and the other methods of the invention.

In another embodiment of the invention, the method of producing a wheatplant derived from the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 further comprises: (a)crossing the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2-derived wheat plant with itselfor another wheat plant to yield additional wheat cultivarWB06-1702-2-derived progeny wheat seed; (b) growing the progeny wheatseed of step (a) under plant growth conditions to yield additional wheatcultivar WB06-1702-2-derived wheat plants; and (c) repeating thecrossing and growing steps of (a) and (b) to generate further wheatcultivar WB06-1702-2-derived wheat plants. In specific embodiments,steps (a) and (b) may be repeated at least 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 or moretimes as desired. The invention still further provides a wheat plantproduced by this and the foregoing methods.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference now will be made in detail to the embodiments of theinvention, one or more examples of which are set forth below. Eachexample is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not alimitation of the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in theart that various modifications and variations may be made in the presentinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.For instance, features illustrated or described as part of oneembodiment, can be used on another embodiment to yield a still furtherembodiment.

Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers suchmodifications and variations as come within the scope of the appendedclaims and their equivalents. Other objects, features, and aspects ofthe present invention are disclosed in or are obvious from the followingdetailed description. It is to be understood by one of ordinary skill inthe art that the present discussion is a description of exemplaryembodiments only, and is not intended as limiting the broader aspects ofthe present invention

In an embodiment, the invention is directed to wheat cultivarWB06-1702-2, its seeds, plants, and hybrids. Wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2is a soft red winter type common wheat bred for fall planting in thesoft red winter wheat growing regions of the United States. The primaryusage of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 will be for production of grain, butit can also be used for production of silage harvested in the soft doughstage. Wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 was selected from the cross‘TRUMAN/Z98-919’. The breeding history of the cultivar can be summarizedas follows:

SELECTION YEAR GENERATION LOCATION PLOT HARVEST CRITERIA 2002 CROSSSpring GH - Lafayette, IN 2003 F₁ Lafayette, IN Head row Bulk Plantheight & general plant health 2004 F₂ Lafayette, IN Plot Select 200heads Plant height & general plant health 2004 F₃ Fall GH - Lafayette,IN Plants Heads Inoculated heads showing tolerance to FHB 2005 F₄ Springplanting - Head rows Bulk Plant height & Ft Collins, CO general planthealth 2006 F₅ Lafayette, IN Plot Bulk Yield, plant height, & generalplant health 2007 F₆ Lafayette, IN Plot Heads Yield, plant height, &general plant health 2008 F₇ Lafayette, IN Head rows Bulk Yield, plantheight, & general plant health 2009 F₈ Lafayette, IN Plot Bulk Yield,plant height, & general plant health 2010 F₉ Lafayette, IN Plot BulkYield, plant height, & general plant health 2011  F₁₀ Lafayette, IN PlotBulk Yield, plant height, & general plant health 2012  F₁₁ Lafayette, INPlot Bulk Yield, plant height, & general plant health 2013  F₁₂Lafayette, IN Plot Bulk Yield, plant height, & general plant health 2014 F₁₃ Yuma, AZ Plot Bulk Yield, plant height, & general plant health 2015 F₁₄ Ft Collins, CO Plot

A variant similar to WB06-1702-2 but 10-15 cm taller occurs at afrequency of 0.2% (20 plants per 10,000). A white seed variant may occurat a frequency of up to 0.25% (25 seeds per 10,000). An awned variantmay occur at a frequency of 0.1% (10 plants per 10,000). A bronze chaffvariant may occur at a frequency of 0.1% (10/10,000). Otherwise, thiscultivar has been uniform and stable in appearance and performanceacross several generations (F₅-F₁₃) and environments.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided awheat plant having the morphological and physiological characteristicsof WB06-1702-2 as presented in Table 1. Those of skill in the art willrecognize that these are typical values that may vary due to environmentand that other values that are substantially equivalent are within thescope of the invention.

TABLE 1 Phenotypic Description of Wheat Cultivar WB06-1702-2CHARACTERISTIC VALUES/RATINGS 1. PLANT Coleoptile anthocyanin AbsentJuvenile plant growth Semi-erect Plant color at boot stage Green Flagleaf at boot stage: Orientation Recurved Twist Twisted Plant height (cm) 94.0 2. STEM Waxy Bloom Present Internode: Form Hollow Number 3Hairiness of last internode of rachis Present Peduncle: Form Semi-erectLength (cm) 20  Auricle: Hair Present 3. HEAD (at maturity) Density LaxShape Tapering Curvature Recurved Awnedness Apically awnletted 4. GLUMES(at maturity) Color White/amber Shoulder Elevated Shoulder width WideBeak shape Obtuse Beak width Wide Glume length Long (ca. 9 mm) Glumewidth Wide (ca. 4 mm) Pubescence Not present 5. SEED Shape Oval CheekRounded Brush Medium Brush collar Not collared Crease width 2 Creasedepth 2 Seed weight (g/1000 kernels) 38  Germ size Midsize 6. DISEASEREACTIONS Puccinia striiformis (Stripe rust): Tolerant

In an embodiment, the invention provides a composition comprising a seedof WB06-1702-2 comprised in plant seed growth media. Advantageously,plant seed growth media can provide adequate physical support for seedsand can retain moisture and/or nutritional components. In certainembodiments, the plant seed growth media is a soil or syntheticcultivation medium. Any plant seed growth media known in the art may beutilized in this embodiment and the invention is in no way limited tosoil or synthetic cultivation medium. Examples of characteristics forsoils that may be desirable in certain embodiments can be found, forinstance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,932,166 and 4,707,176. Plant cultivationmedia are well known in the art and may, in certain embodiments,comprise polymers, hydrogels, or the like. Examples of such compositionsare described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,537. In specificembodiments, the growth medium may be comprised in a container or may,for example, be soil in a field.

In another embodiment, the invention is directed to methods forproducing a wheat plant by crossing a first parent wheat plant with asecond parent wheat plant, wherein the first or second wheat plant isthe wheat plant from the cultivar WB06-1702-2. In an embodiment, thefirst and second parent wheat plants may be from the cultivarWB06-1702-2 (i.e., self-pollination). Any methods using the cultivarWB06-1702-2 are part of this invention: selfing, backcrosses, hybridbreeding, and crosses to populations. Any plants produced using cultivarWB06-1702-2 as a parent are within the scope of this invention. Incertain embodiments, the invention is also directed to cells that, upongrowth and differentiation, produce a cultivar having essentially all ofthe morphological and physiological characteristics of WB06-1702-2. Thepresent invention additionally contemplates, in various embodiments, awheat plant regenerated from a tissue culture of cultivar WB06-1702-2.

In some embodiments of the invention, the invention is directed to atransgenic variant of WB06-1702-2. A transgenic variant of WB06-1702-2may contain at least one transgene but could contain at least 1, 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or more transgenes. In another embodiment, atransgenic variant of WB06-1702-2 may contain no more than 15, 14, 13,12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, or 2 transgenes. Another embodiment ofthe invention involves a process for producing wheat cultivarWB06-1702-2 further comprising a desired trait, said process comprisingintroducing a transgene that confers a desired trait to a wheat plant ofcultivar WB06-1702-2. Methods for producing transgenic plants have beendeveloped and are well known in the art. As part of the invention, oneof ordinary skill in the art may utilize any method of producingtransgenic plants which is currently known or yet to be developed.

Numerous methods for plant transformation have been developed, includingbiological and physical plant transformation protocols. In addition,expression vectors and in vitro culture methods for plant cell or tissuetransformation and regeneration of plants are available.

In certain embodiments, the desired trait may be one or more ofherbicide tolerance or resistance, insect resistance or tolerance,disease resistance or tolerance, resistance for bacterial, viral, orfungal disease, male fertility, male sterility, decreased phytate, ormodified fatty acid or carbohydrate metabolism. The specific transgenemay be any known in the art or listed herein, including, but not limitedto a polynucleotide conferring resistance to imidazolinone, dicamba,sulfonylurea, glyphosate, glufosinate, triazine, benzonitrile,cyclohexanedione, phenoxy propionic acid, and L-phosphinothricin; apolynucleotide encoding a Bacillus thuringiensis polypeptide, apolynucleotide encoding phytase, FAD-2, FAD-3, galactinol synthase or araffinose synthetic enzyme, Fusarium, Septoria, or various viruses orbacteria.

Various genetic elements can be introduced into the plant genome usingtransformation. These elements include, but are not limited to genes,coding sequences, inducible, constitutive, and tissue-specificpromoters, enhancing sequences, and signal and targeting sequences.

In some embodiments, the invention comprises a WB06-1702-2 plant thathas been developed using both genetic engineering and traditionalbreeding techniques. For example, a genetic trait may have beenengineered into the genome of a particular wheat plant may then be movedinto the genome of a WB06-1702-2 plant using traditional breedingtechniques that are well known in the plant breeding arts. Likewise, agenetic trait that has been engineered into the genome of a WB06-1702-2wheat plant may then be moved into the genome of another cultivar usingtraditional breeding techniques that are well known in the plantbreeding arts. A backcrossing approach is commonly used to move atransgene or transgenes from a transformed wheat cultivar into analready developed wheat cultivar, and the resulting backcross conversionplant would then comprise the transgene(s).

Plant transformation involves the construction of an expression vectorthat will function in plant cells. Such a vector may comprise DNAcomprising a gene under control of or operatively linked to a regulatoryelement (for example, a promoter). The expression vector may contain oneor more such operably linked gene/regulatory element combinations. Thevector(s) may be in the form of a plasmid and can be used alone or incombination with other plasmids to provide transformed wheat plants,using transformation methods as described below to incorporatetransgenes into the genetic material of the wheat plant(s).

Expression Vectors for Wheat Transformation: Marker Genes

Expression vectors may include at least one genetic marker operablylinked to a regulatory element that allows transformed cells containingthe marker to be either recovered by negative selection, i.e.,inhibiting growth of cells that do not contain the selectable markergene, or by positive selection, i.e., screening for the product encodedby the genetic marker. Many commonly used selectable marker genes forplant transformation are well known in the transformation arts, and mayinclude, for example, genes that code for enzymes that metabolicallydetoxify a selective chemical agent, which may be an antibiotic or anherbicide, or genes that encode an altered target which is insensitiveto the inhibitor. Positive selection methods are also known in the art.

One commonly used selectable marker gene for plant transformation is theneomycin phosphotransferase II (nptII) gene, which when under thecontrol of plant regulatory signals, confers resistance to kanamycin.Another commonly used selectable marker gene is the hygromycinphosphotransferase gene, which confers resistance to the antibiotichygromycin.

Additional selectable marker genes of bacterial origin that conferresistance to antibiotics include gentamycin acetyl transferase,streptomycin phosphotransferase, and aminoglycoside-3′-adenyltransferase, the bleomycin resistance determinant. Other selectablemarker genes confer tolerance or resistance to herbicides such asglyphosate, glufosinate, or bromoxynil, or the like.

Other selectable marker genes for plant transformation that are not ofbacterial origin may include, for example, mouse dihydrofolatereductase, plant 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase, and plantacetolactate synthase.

Another class of marker genes for plant transformation requiresscreening of presumptively transformed plant cells, rather than directgenetic selection of transformed cells, for resistance to a toxicsubstance such as an antibiotic. These genes are particularly useful toquantify or visualize the spatial pattern of expression of a gene inspecific tissues and are frequently referred to as reporter genesbecause they can be fused to a gene or gene regulatory sequence for theinvestigation of gene expression. Commonly used genes for screeningpresumptively transformed cells include β-glucuronidase (GUS),β-galactosidase, luciferase, and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase. Invivo methods for visualizing GUS activity that do not requiredestruction of plant tissue are also available. More recently, a geneencoding Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) has been utilized as a markerfor gene expression in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. GFP and mutantsof GFP may also be used as screenable markers.

Expression Vectors for Wheat Transformation: Promoters

Genes included in expression vectors must be driven by a nucleotidesequence comprising a regulatory element, for example, a promoter. Manytypes of promoters are well known in the transformation arts, as areother regulatory elements that can be used alone or in combination withpromoters.

As used herein, “promoter” includes reference to a region of DNAupstream of the start of transcription and involved in recognition andbinding of RNA polymerase and other proteins to initiate transcription.A “plant promoter” is a promoter capable of initiating transcription inplant cells. Examples of promoters under developmental control includepromoters that preferentially initiate transcription in certain tissues,such as leaves, roots, seeds, fibers, xylem vessels, tracheids, orsclerenchyma. Such promoters may be referred to as “tissue-preferred.”Promoters that initiate transcription only in certain tissue arereferred to as “tissue-specific.” A “cell type” specific promoterprimarily drives expression in certain cell types in one or more organs,for example, vascular cells in roots or leaves. An “inducible” promoteris a promoter under environmental control. Examples of environmentalconditions that may affect transcription by inducible promoters includeanaerobic conditions or the presence of light. Tissue-specific,tissue-preferred, cell type specific, and inducible promoters constitutethe class of “non-constitutive” promoters. A “constitutive” promoter isa promoter that is active under most environmental conditions.

A. Inducible Promoters—An inducible promoter is operably linked to agene for expression in wheat. Optionally, the inducible promoter may beoperably linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding a signal sequence thatis operably linked to a gene for expression in wheat. With an induciblepromoter, the rate of transcription increases in response to an inducingagent.

Any inducible promoter may be used in the present invention. Exemplaryinducible promoters include, but are not limited to, those from the ACEIsystem, which respond to copper, and the In2 gene from maize, whichresponds to benzene-sulfonamide herbicide safeners. In an embodiment,the inducible promoter may be a promoter that responds to an inducingagent to which plants do not normally respond. An exemplary induciblepromoter may be an inducible promoter from a steroid hormone gene, thetranscriptional activity of which is induced by a glucocorticosteroidhormone.

B. Constitutive Promoters—A constitutive promoter is operably linked toa gene for expression in wheat, or is operably linked to a nucleotidesequence encoding a signal sequence that is operably linked to a genefor expression in wheat.

Many different constitutive promoters can be utilized in the presentinvention. Exemplary constitutive promoters include, but are not limitedto, the promoters from plant viruses, such as the 35S promoter from CaMVand the promoters from such genes as rice actin; ubiquitin; pEMU; MAS,and maize H3 histone. The ALS promoter, Xba1/Ncol fragment 5′ to theBrassica napus ALS3 structural gene (or a nucleotide sequence similarityto said Xbal/Ncol fragment), represents a particularly usefulconstitutive promoter.

C. Tissue-specific or Tissue-preferred Promoters—A tissue-specificpromoter is operably linked to a gene for expression in wheat. Thetissue-specific promoter may be operably linked to a nucleotide sequenceencoding a signal sequence that is operably linked to a gene forexpression in wheat. Plants transformed with a gene of interest operablylinked to a tissue-specific promoter may produce the protein product ofthe transgene exclusively, or preferentially, in a specific tissue.

Any tissue-specific or tissue-preferred promoter can be utilized in thepresent invention. Exemplary tissue-specific or tissue-preferredpromoters include, but are not limited to, a root-preferred promoter,such as that from the phaseolin gene; a leaf-specific and light-inducedpromoter, such as that from cab or rubisco; an anther-specific promoter,such as that from LAT52; a pollen-specific promoter, such as that fromZm1 3; or a microspore-preferred promoter, such as that from apg.

Signal Sequences for Targeting Proteins to Subcellular Compartments

Transport of protein produced by transgenes to a subcellular compartmentsuch as the chloroplast, vacuole, peroxisome, glyoxysome, cell wall, ormitochondrion, or for secretion into the apoplast, is accomplished bymeans of operably linking the nucleotide sequence encoding a signalsequence to the 5′ and/or 3′ region of a gene encoding the protein ofinterest. Targeting sequences at the 5′ and/or 3′ end of the structuralgene may determine, during protein synthesis and processing, where theencoded protein is ultimately compartmentalized. The presence of asignal sequence directs a polypeptide to either an intracellularorganelle or subcellular compartment or for secretion to the apoplast.Many signal sequences are known in the art.

Foreign Protein Genes and Agronomic Genes

Using transgenic plants according to the present invention, a foreignprotein can be produced in commercial quantities. Thus, techniques forthe selection and propagation of transformed plants, which are wellunderstood in the art, yield a plurality of transgenic plants that maybe harvested in a conventional manner. A foreign protein can then beextracted from a tissue of interest or from total biomass. Proteinextraction from plant biomass can be accomplished by known methods.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the transgenic plantprovided for commercial production of foreign protein is, or is derivedfrom a WB06-1702-2 wheat plant. In another embodiment, the biomass ofinterest is or is derived from a WB06-1702-2 seed. For the relativelysmall number of transgenic plants that show higher levels of expression,a genetic map can be generated, primarily via conventional restrictionfragment length polymorphism (RFLP), polymerase chain reaction (PCR),and simple sequence repeat (SSR) analysis, which identify theapproximate chromosomal location of the integrated DNA molecule. Mapinformation concerning chromosomal location is useful for proprietaryprotection of a subject transgenic plant. If unauthorized propagation isundertaken and crosses made with other germplasm, the map of theintegration region can be compared to similar maps for suspect plants,to determine if the latter have a common parentage with the subjectplant. Map comparisons would involve hybridizations, RFLP, PCR, SSR, andsequencing, all of which are conventional techniques well known in theart.

In certain embodiments, the invention comprises transformed WB06-1702-2plants that express particular agronomic genes or phenotypes ofagronomic interest. Exemplary genes implicated in this regard include,but are not limited to, those categorized below:

1. Genes that Confer Tolerance or Resistance to Pests or Disease andthat Encode:

A. Plant disease tolerance or resistance genes. Plant defenses are oftenactivated by specific interaction between the product of a diseasetolerance or resistance gene (R) in the plant and the product of acorresponding avirulence (Avr) gene in the pathogen. A plant variety canbe transformed with one or more cloned resistance genes to engineerplants that are resistant to specific pathogen strains.

B. A gene conferring resistance to a pest, such as nematodes.

C. A Bacillus thuringiensis protein, a derivative thereof, or asynthetic polypeptide modeled thereon. Moreover, DNA molecules encoding8-endotoxin genes can be purchased from American Type CultureCollection, Manassas, Va., for example, under ATCC Accession Nos. 40098,67136, 31995 and 31998.

D. A lectin. The nucleotide sequence of several Clivia miniatamannose-binding lectin genes are known in the art.

E. A vitamin-binding protein such as avidin or avidin homologues.

F. An enzyme inhibitor, for example, a protease or proteinase inhibitoror an amylase inhibitor. For example, the nucleotide sequences of ricecysteine proteinase inhibitor, cDNA encoding tobacco proteinaseinhibitor I, and Streptomyces nitrosporeus α-amylase inhibitor are knownin the art.

G. An insect-specific hormone or pheromone such as an ecdysteroid andjuvenile hormone, a variant thereof, a mimetic based thereon, or anantagonist or agonist thereof. For example, the baculovirus expressionof cloned juvenile hormone esterase, an inactivator of juvenile hormone,is known in the art.

H. An insect-specific peptide or neuropeptide which, upon expression,disrupts the physiology of the affected pest. For example, it is knownthat expression cloning yields DNA coding for insect diuretic hormonereceptor and an allostatin can be identified in Diploptera puntata.Genes encoding insect-specific, paralytic neurotoxins are also known inthe art.

I. An insect-specific venom produced in nature by a snake, a wasp, etc.For example, heterologous expression in plants of a gene coding for ascorpion insectotoxic peptide is known in the art.

J. An enzyme responsible for a hyper-accumulation of a monoterpene, asesquiterpene, a steroid, a hydroxamic acid, a phenylpropanoidderivative, or another non-protein molecule with insecticidal activity.

K. An enzyme involved in the modification, including thepost-translational modification, of a biologically active molecule. Forexample, such enzymes include, but are not limited to, a glycolyticenzyme, a proteolytic enzyme, a lipolytic enzyme, a nuclease, a cyclase,a callase, a transaminase, an esterase, a hydrolase, a phosphatase, akinase, a phosphorylase, a polymerase, an elastase, a chitinase, and aglucanase, whether natural or synthetic. DNA molecules that containchitinase-encoding sequences can be obtained, for example, from the ATCCunder Accession Nos. 39637 and 67152. The nucleotide sequences of a cDNAencoding tobacco hookworm chitinase and parsley ubi4-2 polyubiquitingene are also known in the art.

L. A molecule that stimulates signal transduction. For example, thenucleotide sequences for mung bean calmodulin cDNA clones and a maizecalmodulin cDNA clone are known in the art.

M. A hydrophobic moment peptide. For example, peptide derivatives ofTachyplesin, which inhibit fungal plant pathogens, or syntheticantimicrobial peptides that confer disease resistance.

N. A membrane permease, a channel former, or a channel blocker. Forexample, heterologous expression of a cecropin-13 lytic peptide analogto render transgenic tobacco plants resistant to Pseudomonassolanacearum is known in the art.

O. A viral-invasive protein or a complex toxin derived therefrom. Forexample, the accumulation of viral coat proteins in transformed plantcells imparts resistance to viral infection and/or disease developmentaffected by the virus from which the coat protein gene is derived, aswell as by related viruses. Coat protein-mediated resistance has beenconferred upon transformed plants against alfalfa mosaic virus, cucumbermosaic virus, tobacco streak virus, potato virus X, potato virus Y,tobacco etch virus, tobacco rattle virus, and tobacco mosaic virus.

P. An insect-specific antibody or an immunotoxin derived therefrom.Thus, an antibody targeted to a critical metabolic function in theinsect gut would inactivate an affected enzyme, killing the insect. Forexample, enzymatic inactivation in transgenic tobacco via production ofsingle-chain antibody fragments is known in the art.

Q. A virus-specific antibody. For example, it is known in the art thattransgenic plants expressing recombinant antibody genes are protectedfrom virus attack.

R. A developmental-arrestive protein produced in nature by a pathogen ora parasite. Thus, fungal endo-α-1,4-D-polygalacturonases facilitatefungal colonization and plant nutrient release by solubilizing plantcell wall homo-α-1,4-D-galacturonase. The cloning and characterizationof a gene that encodes a bean endopolygalacturonase-inhibiting proteinis known in the art.

S. A developmental-arrestive protein produced in nature by a plant. Forexample, it has been shown that transgenic plants expressing the barleyribosome-inactivating gene have an increased resistance to fungaldisease.

T. Genes expressing proteins with antifungal action. Fusarium headblight along with deoxynivalenol both produced by the pathogen Fusariumgraminearum (Schwabe) have caused devastating losses in wheatproduction. Genes expressing proteins with antifungal action can be usedas transgenes to prevent Fusarium head blight. Various classes ofproteins have been identified. Examples include endochitinases,exochitinases, glucanases, thionins, thaumatin-like proteins, osmotins,ribosome-inactivating proteins, flavonoids, and lactoferricin. Duringinfection with Fusarium graminearum, deoxynivalenol is produced. Thereis evidence that production of deoxynivalenol increases the virulence ofthe disease. Genes with properties for detoxification of deoxynivalenolhave been engineered for use in wheat. A synthetic peptide that competeswith deoxynivalenol has been identified. Changing the ribosomes of thehost so that they have reduced affinity for deoxynivalenol has also beenused to reduce the virulence of Fusarium graminearum. Genes used to helpreduce Fusarium head blight include, but are not limited to, Tri101(Fusarium), PDR5 (yeast), tlp-1 (oat), tlp-2 (oat), leaf tlp-1 (wheat),tlp (rice), tlp-4 (oat), endochitinase, exochitinase, glucanase(Fusarium), permatin (oat), seed hordothionin (barley), alpha-thionin(wheat), acid glucanase (alfalfa), chitinase (barley and rice), classbeta II-1,3-glucanase (barley), PR5/tlp (Arabidopsis), zeamatin (maize),type 1 RIP (barley), NPR1 (Arabidopsis), lactoferrin (mammal),oxalylCoA-decarboxylase (bacterium), IAP (baculovirus), ced-9 (C.elegans), and glucanase (rice and barley).

U. A gene, for example, the H9, H10, and H21 genes, conferringresistance to a pest, such as Hessian fly, stem soft fly, cereal leafbeetle, and/or green bug.

V. A gene conferring resistance to diseases such as wheat rusts,Septoria tritici, Septoria nodorum, powdery mildew, Helminthosporiumdiseases, smuts, bunts, Fusarium diseases, bacterial diseases, and viraldiseases.

W. Genes involved in the Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) responseand/or the pathogenesis-related genes.

X. Antifungal genes.

Y. Detoxification genes, such as for fumonisin, beauvericin,moniliformin, and zearalenone and their structurally relatedderivatives.

Z. Cystatin and cysteine proteinase inhibitors.

AA. Defensin genes.

BB. Genes conferring resistance to nematodes.

2. Genes that Confer Tolerance or Resistance to an Herbicide:

A. An herbicide that inhibits the growing point or meristem, such as animidazolinone or a sulfonylurea. Exemplary genes in this category codefor mutant ALS and AHAS enzyme.

B. Glyphosate (resistance conferred by mutant5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) and aroA genes) andother phosphono compounds, such as glufosinate (phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT) and Streptomyces hygroscopicus PAT bar genes), andpyridinoxy or phenoxy propionic acids and cyclohexanediones (ACCaseinhibitor-encoding genes). For example, the nucleotide sequence of aform of EPSP which can confer glyphosate resistance is known in the art.A DNA molecule encoding a mutant aroA gene can be obtained under ATCCaccession number 39256, and the nucleotide sequence of the mutant geneis known. Nucleotide sequences of glutamine synthetase genes that confertolerance or resistance to herbicides such as L-phosphinothricin arealso known in the art. The nucleotide sequence of a PAT gene is known inthe art, as is the production of transgenic plants that express chimericbar genes coding for PAT activity. Exemplary genes conferring resistanceto phenoxy propionic acids and cyclohexanediones, such as sethoxydim andhaloxyfop are the Accl-S1, Accl-S2, and Accl-S3 genes.

C. An herbicide that inhibits photosynthesis, such as a triazine (psbAand gs+ genes) or a benzonitrile (nitrilase gene). Nucleotide sequencesfor nitrilase genes are disclosed and DNA molecules containing thesegenes are available under ATCC Accession Nos. 53435, 67441, and 67442.Cloning and expression of DNA coding for a glutathione S-transferase isdescribed in the art.

D. Acetohydroxy acid synthase. This enzyme has been found to make plantsthat express this enzyme tolerant or resistant to multiple types ofherbicides and has been introduced into a variety of plants. Other genesthat confer tolerance or resistance to herbicides include a geneencoding a chimeric protein of rat cytochrome P4507A1 and yeastNADPH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase, genes for glutathione reductaseand superoxide dismutase, and genes for various phosphotransferases.

E. Protoporphyrinogen oxidase (protox). Protox is necessary for theproduction of chlorophyll, which is necessary for survival in allplants. The protox enzyme serves as the target for a variety ofherbicidal compounds. These herbicides also inhibit growth of differentspecies of plants present, causing their total destruction. Thedevelopment of plants containing altered protox activity that aretolerant or resistant to these herbicides is described in the art.

3. Genes that Confer or Contribute to a Value-Added Trait, Such as:

A. Modified fatty acid metabolism, for example, by transforming a plantwith an antisense gene of stearyl-ACP desaturase to increase stearicacid content of the plant.

B. Decreased phytate content. This can be accomplished by: (1)Introduction of a phytase-encoding gene that enhances breakdown ofphytate, adding more free phosphate to the transformed plant; or (2)Up-regulation of a gene that reduces phytate content. For example, thenucleotide sequence of an Aspergillus niger phytase gene has beendescribed in the art.

C. Modified carbohydrate composition effected, for example, bytransforming plants with a gene coding for an enzyme that alters thebranching pattern of starch, or, a gene altering thioredoxin such as NTRand/or TRX and/or a gamma zein knockout or mutant, such as cs27, TUSC27,or en27. For example, the nucleotide sequences of Streptococcus mutansfructosyltransferase gene, Bacillus subtilis levansucrase gene, andtomato invertase genes are known in the art. Transgenic plants can beproduced that express Bacillus licheniformis alpha-amylase, thatsite-direct mutagenesis of barley alpha-amylase gene, or confer maizeendosperm starch branching enzyme II or improved digestibility and/orstarch extraction through modification of UDP-D-xylose 4-epimerase.Methods of producing high oil seed by modification of starch levels(AGP) are also known. The fatty acid modification genes mentioned abovemay also be used to affect starch content and/or composition through theinterrelationship of the starch and oil pathways.

D. Elevated oleic acid via FAD-2 gene modification and/or decreasedlinolenic acid via FAD-3 gene modification.

E. Altering conjugated linolenic or linoleic acid content, or LEC1, AGP,Dekl, Superall, milps, various Ipa genes such as Ipal, Ipa3, hpt, orhggt.

F. Altered antioxidant content or composition, such as alteration oftocopherol or tocotrienols. For example, manipulation of antioxidantlevels through alteration of a phytl prenyl transferase (ppt) is known,as is manipulation of antioxidant levels through alteration of ahomogentisate geranyl geranyl transferase (hggt).

G. The content of high-molecular weight gluten subunits (HMS-GS).Genomic clones have been isolated for different subunits. For example,genomic clones have transformed wheat with genes that encode a modifiedHMW-GS.

H. Increased protein metabolism, zinc and iron content, for example, byregulating the NAC gene, increasing protein metabolism by regulating theGpc-B1 gene, or regulating glutenin and gliadin genes.

I. Altered essential seed amino acids. Methods of increasingaccumulation of essential amino acids in seeds, binary methods ofincreasing accumulation of essential amino acids in seeds, alteration ofamino acid compositions in seeds, methods for altering amino acidcontent of proteins, alteration of amino acid compositions in seeds, andproteins with enhanced levels of essential amino acids all are known inthe art. Other examples may include high methionine, high threonine,plant amino acid biosynthetic enzymes, increased lysine and threonine,plant tryptophan synthase beta subunit, methionine metabolic enzymes,high sulfur, increased methionine, plant amino acid biosyntheticenzymes, engineered seed protein having higher percentage of essentialamino acids, increased lysine, increasing sulfur amino acid content,synthetic storage proteins with defined structure containingprogrammable levels of essential amino acids for improvement of thenutritional value of plants, increased threonine, increased lysine, CesA: cellulose synthase, hemicellulose, UDPGdH, and RGP.

4. Genes that Control Male Sterility

There are several methods of conferring genetic male sterilityavailable, such as multiple mutant genes at separate locations withinthe genome that confer male sterility. In addition to these methods, asystem of nuclear male sterility that includes: identifying a gene whichis critical to male fertility; silencing this native gene which iscritical to male fertility; removing the native promoter from theessential male fertility gene and replacing it with an induciblepromoter; inserting this genetically engineered gene back into theplant; and thus creating a plant that is male sterile because theinducible promoter is not “on”, resulting in the male fertility gene notbeing transcribed, is known. Fertility is restored by inducing, orturning “on”, the promoter, which in turn allows the gene that confersmale fertility to be transcribed.

A. Introduction of a deacetylase gene under the control of atapetum-specific promoter and with the application of the chemicalN-Ac-PPT.

B. Introduction of various stamen-specific promoters.

C. Introduction of the barnase and the barstar genes.

5. Genes that Create a Site for Site Specific DNA Integration.

This includes the introduction of FRT sites that may be used in theFLP/FRT system and/or Lox sites that may be used in the Cre/Loxp system.Other systems that may be used include the Gin recombinase of phage Mu,the Pin recombinase of E. coli, and the R/RS system of the pSR1 plasmid.

6. Genes that Affect Abiotic Stress Resistance.

A. Genes that affect abiotic stress resistance (including but notlimited to flowering, seed development, enhancement of nitrogenutilization efficiency, altered nitrogen responsiveness, droughtresistance or tolerance, cold resistance or tolerance, and saltresistance or tolerance) and increased yield under stress. For example,water use efficiency can be altered through alteration of malate. Inaddition, various genes, including CBF genes and transcription factors,can be effective in mitigating the negative effects of freezing, highsalinity, and drought on plants, as well as conferring other positiveeffects on plant phenotype. Abscisic acid can be altered in plants,resulting in improved plant phenotype, such as increased yield and/orincreased tolerance to abiotic stress. Cytokinin expression can bemodified resulting in plants with increased stress tolerance, such asdrought tolerance, and/or increased yield. Nitrogen utilization can beenhanced and/or nitrogen responsiveness can be altered. Ethylene can bealtered. Plant transcription factors or transcriptional regulators ofabiotic stress can also be altered.

B. Improved tolerance to water stress from drought or high salt watercondition. The HVA1 protein belongs to the group 3 LEA proteins thatinclude other members such as wheat pMA2005, cotton D-7, carrot Dc3, andrape pLEA76. These proteins are characterized by 11-mer tandem repeatsof amino acid domains which may form a probable amphophilicalpha-helical structure that presents a hydrophilic surface with ahydrophobic stripe. The barley HVA1 gene and the wheat pMA2005 gene arehighly similar at both the nucleotide level and predicted amino acidlevel. These two monocot genes are closely related to the cotton D-7gene and carrot Dc3 gene with which they share a similar structural geneorganization. There is, therefore, a correlation between LEA geneexpression or LEA protein accumulation with stress tolerance in a numberof plants. For example, in severely dehydrated wheat seedlings, theaccumulation of high levels of group 3 LEA proteins was correlated withtissue dehydration tolerance. Studies on several Indica varieties ofrice showed that the levels of group 2 LEA proteins (also known asdehydrins) and group 3 LEA proteins in roots were significantly higherin salt-tolerant varieties compared with sensitive varieties. The barleyHVA1 gene was transformed into wheat. Transformed wheat plants showedincreased tolerance to water stress.

C. Improved water stress tolerance through increased mannitol levels viathe bacterial mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase gene. It is known toproduce a plant with a genetic basis for coping with water deficit byintroduction of the bacterial mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase gene,mt1D, into tobacco cells via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Rootand leaf tissues from transgenic plants regenerated from thesetransformed tobacco cells contained up to 100 mM mannitol. Controlplants contained no detectable mannitol. To determine whether thetransgenic tobacco plants exhibited increased tolerance to waterdeficit, the growth of transgenic plants was compared to that ofuntransformed control plants in the presence of 250 mM NaCl. After 30days of exposure to 250 mM NaC1, transgenic plants had decreased weightloss and increased height relative to their untransformed counterparts.The authors concluded that the presence of mannitol in these transformedtobacco plants contributed to water deficit tolerance at the cellularlevel.

Other genes and transcription factors that affect plant growth andagronomic traits such as yield, flowering, plant growth and/or plantstructure, can be introduced or introgressed into plants.

Methods for Wheat Transformation

Numerous methods for plant transformation have been developed, includingbiological and physical plant transformation protocols. In addition,expression vectors and in vitro culture methods for plant cell or tissuetransformation and regeneration of plants are available.

A. Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation. One method for introducing anexpression vector into plants is based on the natural transformationsystem of Agrobacterium. A. tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes are plantpathogenic soil bacteria that genetically transform plant cells. The Tiand Ri plasmids of A. tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes, respectively, carrygenes responsible for genetic transformation of the plant. Descriptionsof Agrobacterium vector systems and methods for Agrobacterium-mediatedgene transfer are well known in the art.

B. Direct Gene Transfer. Several methods of plant transformation,collectively referred to as direct gene transfer, have been developed asan alternative to Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. A generallyapplicable method of plant transformation is microprojectile-mediatedtransformation, wherein DNA is carried on the surface ofmicroprojectiles measuring 1 to 4 pm. The expression vector isintroduced into plant tissues with a biolistic device that acceleratesthe microprojectiles to speeds of 300 to 600 m/s, which is sufficient topenetrate plant cell walls and membranes.

Another method for physical delivery of DNA to plants is sonication oftarget cells. Alternatively, liposome and spheroplast fusion have beenused to introduce expression vectors into plants. Direct uptake of DNAinto protoplasts using CaC1₂ precipitation, polyvinyl alcohol or polyL-ornithine has also been reported. Electroporation of protoplasts andwhole cells and tissues has also been described. Followingtransformation of wheat target tissues, expression of theabove-described selectable marker genes allows for preferentialselection of transformed cells, tissues and/or plants, usingregeneration and selection methods that are well known in the art.

The foregoing methods for transformation would typically be used forproducing a transgenic variety. The transgenic variety could then becrossed, with another (non-transformed or transformed) variety, in orderto produce a new transgenic variety. Alternatively, a genetic traitwhich has been engineered into a particular wheat cultivar using theforegoing transformation techniques could be moved into another cultivarusing traditional backcrossing techniques that are well known in theplant breeding arts. For example, a backcrossing approach could be usedto move an engineered trait from a public, non-elite variety into anelite variety, or from a variety containing a foreign gene in its genomeinto a variety or varieties which do not contain that gene. As usedherein, “crossing” can refer to a simple X by Y cross, or the process ofbackcrossing, depending on the context.

Genetic Marker Profile Through SSR and First Generation Progeny

In addition to phenotypic observations, a plant can also be identifiedby its genotype. The genotype of a plant can be characterized through agenetic marker profile, which can identify plants of the same variety ora related variety or be used to determine or validate a pedigree.Genetic marker profiles can be obtained by techniques such asRestriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLPs), Randomly AmplifiedPolymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), Arbitrarily Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction(AP-PCR), DNA Amplification Fingerprinting (DAF), Sequence CharacterizedAmplified Regions (SCARs), Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms(AFLPs), Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) which are also referred to asmicrosatellites, and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs).

Particular markers used for these purposes are not limited to anyparticular set of markers, but are envisioned to include any type ofmarker and marker profile that provides a means of distinguishingvarieties. One method of comparison is to use only homozygous loci forWB06-1702-2.

In addition to being used for identification of wheat cultivarWB06-1702-2 and plant parts and plant cells of cultivar WB06-1702-2, thegenetic profile may be used to identify a wheat plant produced throughthe use of WB06-1702-2 or to verify a pedigree for progeny plantsproduced through the use of WB06-1702-2. The genetic marker profile isalso useful in breeding and developing backcross conversions.

In some embodiments, the present invention comprises a wheat plantcharacterized by molecular and physiological data obtained from therepresentative sample of WB06-1702-2, deposited with the American TypeCulture Collection (ATCC). Provided in further embodiments of theinvention is a wheat plant formed by the combination of the WB06-1702-2plant or plant cell with another wheat plant or cell and comprising thehomozygous alleles of the variety.

Means of performing genetic marker profiles using SSR polymorphisms arewell known in the art. SSRs are genetic markers based on polymorphismsin repeated nucleotide sequences, such as microsatellites. A markersystem based on SSRs can be highly informative in linkage analysisrelative to other marker systems in that multiple alleles may bepresent. Another advantage of this type of marker is that, through useof flanking primers, detection of SSRs can be achieved, for example, bythe polymerase chain reaction (PCR), thereby eliminating the need forlabor-intensive Southern hybridization. PCR detection uses twooligonucleotide primers flanking the polymorphic segment of repetitiveDNA. Repeated cycles of heat denaturation of the DNA, followed byannealing of the primers to their complementary sequences at lowtemperatures, and extension of the annealed primers with DNA polymerase,comprise the major part of the methodology.

Following amplification, markers can be scored by electrophoresis of theamplification products. Scoring of marker genotype is based on the sizeof the amplified fragment, which may be measured by the number of basepairs of the fragment. While variation in the primer used or inlaboratory procedures can affect the reported fragment size, relativevalues should remain constant regardless of the specific primer orlaboratory used. When comparing varieties, all SSR profiles may beperformed in the same lab.

The SSR profile of wheat plant WB06-1702-2 can be used to identifyplants comprising WB06-1702-2 as a parent, since such plants willcomprise the same homozygous alleles as WB06-1702-2. Because the wheatcultivar is essentially homozygous at all relevant loci, most locishould have only one type of allele present. In contrast, a geneticmarker profile of an F1 progeny should be the sum of those parents,e.g., if one parent was homozygous for allele x at a particular locus,and the other parent homozygous for allele y at that locus, then the F1progeny will be xy (heterozygous) at that locus. Subsequent generationsof progeny produced by selection and breeding are expected to be ofgenotype x (homozygous), y (homozygous), or xy (heterozygous) for thatlocus position. When the F1 plant is selfed or sibbed for successivefilial generations, the locus should be either x or y for that position.

In addition, plants and plant parts substantially benefiting from theuse of WB06-1702-2 in their development, such as WB06-1702-2 comprisinga backcross conversion, transgene, or genetic sterility factor, may beidentified by having a molecular marker profile with a high percentidentity to WB06-1702-2. In an embodiment, such a percent identity mightbe 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, 99.5% or 99.9% identical to WB06-1702-2.

The SSR profile of WB06-1702-2 also can be used to identify essentiallyderived varieties and other progeny varieties developed from the use ofWB06-1702-2, as well as cells and other plant parts thereof. Progenyplants and plant parts produced using WB06-1702-2 may be identified byhaving a molecular marker profile of at least 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%,50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%,84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%,98%, 99% or 99.5% genetic contribution from WB06-1702-2, as measured byeither percent identity or percent similarity. Such progeny may befurther characterized as being within a pedigree distance ofWB06-1702-2, such as within 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 or fewer cross-pollinationsto a wheat plant other than WB06-1702-2 or a plant that has WB06-1702-2as a progenitor. Unique molecular profiles may be identified with othermolecular tools such as SNPs and RFLPs.

While determining the SSR genetic marker profile of a plant as describedabove, several unique SSR profiles may also be identified that did notappear in either parent plant. Such unique SSR profiles may arise duringthe breeding process from recombination or mutation. A combination ofseveral unique alleles provides a means of identifying a plant variety,an F1 progeny produced from such variety, and further progeny producedfrom such variety.

Gene Conversion

When the term “wheat plant” is used in the context of the presentinvention, this also includes any gene conversions of that cultivar.Backcrossing methods can be used with the present invention to improveor introduce a characteristic into the cultivar. For example, a varietymay be backcrossed 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or more times to therecurrent parent. The parental wheat plant that contributes the gene forthe desired characteristic is termed the “nonrecurrent” or “donor”parent. This terminology refers to the fact that the nonrecurrent parentis used one time in the backcross protocol and therefore does not recur.The parental wheat plant to which the gene or genes from thenonrecurrent parent are transferred is known as the recurrent parent, asit is used for several rounds in the backcrossing protocol. In a typicalbackcross protocol, the original variety of interest (recurrent parent)is crossed to a second variety (nonrecurrent parent) that carries thesingle gene of interest to be transferred. The resulting progeny fromthis cross are then crossed again to the recurrent parent and theprocess is repeated until a wheat plant is obtained wherein essentiallyall of the desired morphological and physiological characteristics ofthe recurrent parent are recovered in the converted plant, in additionto the single transferred gene from the nonrecurrent parent.

The selection of a suitable recurrent parent contributes to a successfulbackcrossing procedure. The goal of a backcross protocol is to alter orsubstitute a single trait or characteristic in the original variety. Toaccomplish this, a single gene of the recurrent variety is modified orsubstituted with the desired gene from the nonrecurrent parent, whileretaining essentially all of the rest of the desired genetic, andtherefore the desired morphological and physiological, constitution ofthe original variety. The choice of the particular nonrecurrent parentwill depend on the purpose of the backcross. One of the major purposesis to add commercially desirable, agronomically important traits to theplant. The exact backcrossing protocol will depend on the characteristicor trait being altered. Although backcrossing methods are simplifiedwhen the characteristic being transferred is a dominant allele, arecessive allele may also be transferred. In this instance, it may benecessary to introduce a test of the progeny to determine if the desiredcharacteristic has been successfully transferred.

Many single gene traits have been identified that are not regularlyselected for in the development of a new variety, but that can beimproved by backcrossing techniques. Single gene traits may or may notbe transgenic. Examples of these traits include, but are not limited to,male sterility, waxy starch, herbicide tolerance or resistance,resistance for bacterial, fungal, or viral disease, insect resistance ortolerance, male fertility, enhanced nutritional quality, industrialusage, yield stability and yield enhancement. These genes are generallyinherited through the nucleus.

Introduction of a New Trait or Locus into WB06-1702-2

Cultivar WB06-1702-2 represents a new base genetic variety into which anew locus or trait may be introgressed. Direct transformation andbackcrossing represent two important methods that can be used toaccomplish such an introgression. The term backcross conversion andsingle locus conversion are used interchangeably to designate theproduct of a backcrossing program.

Backcross Conversions of WB06-1702-2

A backcross conversion of WB06-1702-2 occurs when DNA sequences areintroduced through backcrossing, with WB06-1702-2 utilized as therecurrent parent. Both naturally occurring and transgenic DNA sequencesmay be introduced through backcrossing techniques. A backcrossconversion may produce a plant with a trait or locus conversion in atleast two or more backcrosses, including at least 2 crosses, at least 3crosses, at least 4 crosses, at least 5 crosses, or additional crosses.Molecular marker assisted breeding or selection may be utilized toreduce the number of backcrosses necessary to achieve the backcrossconversion. For example, a backcross conversion can be made in as few astwo backcrosses.

The complexity of the backcross conversion method depends on the type oftrait being transferred (single genes or closely linked genes versusunlinked genes), the level of expression of the trait, the type ofinheritance (cytoplasmic or nuclear) and the types of parents includedin the cross. It is understood by those of ordinary skill in the artthat for single gene traits that are relatively easy to classify, thebackcross method is effective and relatively easy to manage. Desiredtraits that may be transferred through backcross conversion include, butare not limited to, sterility (nuclear and cytoplasmic), fertilityrestoration, nutritional enhancements, drought tolerance, nitrogenutilization, altered fatty acid profile, low phytate, industrialenhancements, disease resistance or tolerance (bacterial, fungal orviral), insect resistance or tolerance, and herbicide tolerance orresistance. In addition, an introgression site itself, such as an FRTsite, Lox site, or other site specific integration site, may be insertedby backcrossing and utilized for direct insertion of one or more genesof interest into a specific plant variety. A single locus may containseveral transgenes, such as a transgene for disease resistance that, inthe same expression vector, also contains a transgene for herbicidetolerance or resistance. The gene for herbicide tolerance or resistancemay be used as a selectable marker and/or as a phenotypic trait. Asingle locus conversion of site specific integration system allows forthe integration of multiple genes at the converted loci.

The backcross conversion may result from either the transfer of adominant allele or a recessive allele. Selection of progeny containingthe trait of interest is accomplished by direct selection for a traitassociated with a dominant allele. Transgenes transferred viabackcrossing typically function as a dominant single gene trait and arerelatively easy to classify. Selection of progeny for a trait that istransferred via a recessive allele requires growing and selling thefirst backcross generation to determine which plants carry the recessivealleles. Recessive traits may require additional progeny testing insuccessive backcross generations to determine the presence of the locusof interest. The last backcross generation is usually selfed to givepure breeding progeny for the gene(s) being transferred, although abackcross conversion with a stably introgressed trait may also bemaintained by further backcrossing to the recurrent parent withselection for the converted trait.

Along with selection for the trait of interest, progeny are selected forthe phenotype of the recurrent parent. The backcross is a form ofinbreeding, and the features of the recurrent parent are automaticallyrecovered after successive backcrosses. Some sources suggest from one tofour or more backcrosses, but as noted above, the number of backcrossesnecessary can be reduced with the use of molecular markers. Otherfactors, such as a genetically similar donor parent, may also reduce thenumber of backcrosses necessary. Backcrossing is easiest for simplyinherited, dominant and easily recognized traits.

One process for adding or modifying a trait or locus in wheat cultivarWB06-1702-2 comprises crossing WB06-1702-2 plants grown from WB06-1702-2seed with plants of another wheat cultivar that comprise the desiredtrait or locus, selecting F1 progeny plants that comprise the desiredtrait or locus to produce selected F1 progeny plants, crossing theselected progeny plants with the WB06-1702-2 plants to produce backcrossprogeny plants, selecting for backcross progeny plants that have thedesired trait or locus and the morphological characteristics of wheatcultivar WB06-1702-2 to produce selected backcross progeny plants, andbackcrossing to WB06-1702-2 three or more times in succession to produceselected fourth or higher backcross progeny plants that comprise saidtrait or locus. The modified WB06-1702-2 may be further characterized ashaving essentially all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 listed in Table 1, asdetermined at the 5% significance level when grown in the sameenvironmental conditions and/or may be characterized by percentsimilarity or identity to WB06-1702-2 as determined by SSR markers. Theabove method may be utilized with fewer backcrosses in appropriatesituations, such as when the donor parent is highly related or markersare used in the selection step. Desired nucleic acids that may be usedinclude those nucleic acids known in the art, some of which are listedherein, that will affect traits through nucleic acid expression orinhibition. Desired loci include the introgression of FRT, Lox, andother sites for site specific integration, which may also affect adesired trait if a functional nucleic acid is inserted at theintegration site.

In addition, the above process and other similar processes describedherein may be used to produce first generation progeny wheat seed byadding a step at the end of the process that comprises crossingWB06-1702-2 with the introgressed trait or locus with a different wheatplant and harvesting the resultant first generation progeny wheat seed.

A further embodiment of the invention is a back-cross conversion ofwheat cultivar WB06-1702-2. A backcross conversion occurs when DNAsequences are introduced through traditional (non-transformation)breeding techniques, such as backcrossing. DNA sequences, whethernaturally occurring or transgenes, may be introduced using thesetraditional breeding techniques. Desired traits transferred through thisprocess include, but are not limited to nutritional enhancements,industrial enhancements, disease resistance or tolerance, insectresistance or tolerance, herbicide tolerance or resistance, agronomicenhancements, grain quality enhancement, waxy starch, breedingenhancements, seed production enhancements, and male sterility.Descriptions of some of the cytoplasmic male sterility genes, nuclearmale sterility genes, chemical hybridizing agents, male fertilityrestoration genes, and methods of using the aforementioned are known.Examples of genes for other traits include: Leaf rust resistance genes(Lr series such as Lr1, Lr10, Lr21, Lr22, Lr22a, Lr32, Lr37, Lr41, Lr42,and Lr43), Fusarium head blight-resistance genes (QFhs.ndsu-3B andQFhs.ndsu-2A), powdery mildew resistance genes (Pm21), common buntresistance genes (Bt-10), and wheat streak mosaic virus resistance gene(Wsm1), Russian wheat aphid resistance genes (Dn series such as Dnl,Dn2, Dn4, and Dn5), Black stem rust resistance genes (Sr38), Yellow rustresistance genes (Yr series such as Yr 1, YrSD, Yrsu, Yr17, Yr15, andYrH52), aluminum tolerance genes (Alt(BH)), dwarf genes (Rht),vernalization genes (Vrn), Hessian fly resistance genes (H9, H10, H21,and H29), grain color genes (R/r), glyphosate resistance genes (EPSPS),glufosinate genes (bar, pat) and water stress tolerance genes (Hva 1 andmt1D). The trait of interest is transferred from the donor parent to therecurrent parent, which in this case is the wheat plant disclosedherein, WB06-1702-2. Single gene traits may result from either thetransfer of a dominant allele or a recessive allele. Selection ofprogeny containing the trait of interest is done by direct selection fora trait associated with a dominant allele. Selection of progeny for atrait that is transferred via a recessive allele requires growing andselfing the first backcross to determine which plants carry therecessive alleles. Recessive traits may require additional progenytesting in successive backcross generations to determine the presence ofthe gene of interest.

Using WB06-1702-2 to Develop Other Wheat Varieties

Wheat varieties such as WB06-1702-2 are typically developed for use inseed and grain production. However, wheat varieties such as WB06-1702-2also provide a source of breeding material that may be used to developnew wheat varieties. Plant breeding techniques known in the art and usedin a wheat plant breeding program include, but are not limited to,recurrent selection, mass selection, bulk selection, mass selection,backcrossing, pedigree breeding, open pollination breeding, restrictionfragment length polymorphism enhanced selection, genetic marker enhancedselection, making double haploids, and transformation. Often,combinations of these techniques are used. The development of wheatvarieties in a plant breeding program requires, in general, thedevelopment and evaluation of homozygous varieties. There are manyanalytical methods available to evaluate a new variety. The oldest andmost traditional method of analysis is the observation of phenotypictraits but genotypic analysis may also be used.

Additional Breeding Methods

In an embodiment, this invention is directed to methods for producing awheat plant by crossing a first parent wheat plant with a second parentwheat plant wherein either the first or second parent wheat plant iscultivar WB06-1702-2. The other parent may be any other wheat plant,such as a wheat plant that is part of a synthetic or natural population.Any such methods using wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 are part of thisinvention: selfing, sibbing, backcrosses, mass selection, pedigreebreeding, bulk selection, hybrid production, and crosses to populations.These methods are well known in the art and some of the more commonlyused breeding methods are described below.

The following describes breeding methods that may be used with wheatcultivar WB06-1702-2 in the development of further wheat plants. Onesuch embodiment is a method for developing a cultivar WB06-1702-2progeny wheat plant in a wheat plant breeding program comprising:obtaining the wheat plant, or a part thereof, of cultivar WB06-1702-2utilizing said plant or plant part as a source of breeding material andselecting a wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 progeny plant with molecularmarkers in common with cultivar WB06-1702-2 and/or with morphologicaland/or physiological characteristics selected from the characteristicslisted in the Tables herein. Breeding steps that may be used in thewheat plant breeding program include pedigree breeding, backcrossing,mutation breeding, and recurrent selection. In conjunction with thesesteps, techniques such as RFLP-enhanced selection, genetic markerenhanced selection (e.g., SSR markers) and the making of double haploidsmay be utilized.

Another method involves producing a population of wheat cultivarWB06-1702-2 progeny wheat plants, comprising crossing cultivarWB06-1702-2 with another wheat plant, thereby producing a population ofwheat plants, which, on average, derive 50% of their alleles from wheatcultivar WB06-1702-2. A plant of this population may be selected andrepeatedly selfed or sibbed with a wheat cultivar resulting from thesesuccessive filial generations. One embodiment of this invention is thewheat cultivar produced by this method and that has obtained at least50% of its alleles from wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2.

One of ordinary skill in the art of plant breeding would know how toevaluate the traits of two plant varieties to determine if there is nosignificant difference between the two traits expressed by thosevarieties. Thus the invention includes wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2progeny wheat plants comprising a combination of at least two cultivarWB06-1702-2 traits selected from the group consisting of those listed inthe Tables herein, so that said progeny wheat plant is not significantlydifferent for said traits than wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2. Usingtechniques described herein, molecular markers may be used to identifysaid progeny plant as a wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 progeny plant. Meantrait values may be used to determine whether trait differences aresignificant, and the traits may be measured on plants grown under thesame environmental conditions. Once such a variety is developed itsvalue is substantial, as it is important to advance the germplasm baseas a whole in order to maintain or improve traits such as yield, diseaseresistance or tolerance, pest resistance or tolerance, and plantperformance in extreme environmental conditions.

Progeny of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 may also be characterized throughtheir filial relationship with wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2, as forexample, being within a certain number of breeding crosses of wheatcultivar WB06-1702-2. A breeding cross is a cross made to introduce newgenetics into the progeny, and is distinguished from a cross, such as aself or a sib cross, made to select among existing genetic alleles. Thelower the number of breeding crosses in the pedigree, the closer therelationship between wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 and its progeny. Forexample, progeny produced by the methods described herein may be within1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 breeding crosses of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2.

Pedigree Breeding

Pedigree breeding starts with the crossing of two genotypes, such asWB06-1702-2 and another wheat variety having one or more desirablecharacteristics that is lacking or which complements WB06-1702-2. If thetwo original parents do not provide all the desired characteristics,other sources can be included in the breeding population. In thepedigree method, superior plants are selfed and selected in successivefilial generations. In the succeeding filial generations theheterozygous condition gives way to homogeneous varieties as a result ofself-pollination and selection. Typically in the pedigree method ofbreeding, five or more successive filial generations of selfing andselection is practiced: F1 to F2; F2 to F3; F3 to F4; F4 to F5, etc.After a sufficient amount of inbreeding, successive filial generationswill serve to increase seed of the developed variety. In an embodiment,the developed variety comprises homozygous alleles at about 95% or moreof its loci.

In addition to being used to create a backcross conversion, backcrossingcan also be used in combination with pedigree breeding. As discussedpreviously, backcrossing can be used to transfer one or morespecifically desirable traits from one variety, the donor parent, to adeveloped variety called the recurrent parent, which has overall goodagronomic characteristics yet lacks that desirable trait or traits.However, the same procedure can be used to move the progeny toward thegenotype of the recurrent parent but at the same time retain manycomponents of the non-recurrent parent by stopping the backcrossing atan early stage and proceeding with selling and selection. For example, awheat variety may be crossed with another variety to produce a firstgeneration progeny plant. The first generation progeny plant may then bebackcrossed to one of its parent varieties to create a BC1 or BC2.Progeny are selfed and selected so that the newly developed variety hasmany of the attributes of the recurrent parent and yet several of thedesired attributes of the non-recurrent parent. This approach leveragesthe value and strengths of the recurrent parent for use in new wheatvarieties.

Therefore, an embodiment of this invention is a method of making abackcross conversion of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 comprising the stepsof crossing a plant of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 with a donor plantcomprising a desired trait, selecting an F1 progeny plant comprising thedesired trait, and backcrossing the selected F1 progeny plant to a plantof wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2. This method may further comprise the stepof obtaining a molecular marker profile of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2and using the molecular marker profile to select for a progeny plantwith the desired trait and the molecular marker profile of WB06-1702-2.In one embodiment, the desired trait is a mutant gene or transgenepresent in the donor parent.

Recurrent Selection and Mass Selection

Recurrent selection is a method used in a plant breeding program toimprove a population of plants. WB06-1702-2 is suitable for use in arecurrent selection program. The method entails individual plants crosspollinating with each other to form progeny. The progeny are grown andthe superior progeny selected by any number of selection methods, whichinclude individual plant, half-sib progeny, full-sib progeny and selfedprogeny. The selected progeny are cross pollinated with each other toform progeny for another population. This population is planted andagain superior plants are selected to cross pollinate with each other.Recurrent selection is a cyclical process and therefore can be repeatedas many times as desired. The objective of recurrent selection is toimprove the traits of a population. The improved population can then beused as a source of breeding material to obtain new varieties forcommercial or breeding use, including the production of a syntheticcultivar. A synthetic cultivar is the resultant progeny formed by theintercrossing of several selected varieties.

Mass selection is a useful technique when used in conjunction withmolecular marker enhanced selection. In mass selection, seeds fromindividuals are selected based on phenotype or genotype. These selectedseeds are then bulked and used to grow the next generation. Bulkselection requires growing a population of plants in a bulk plot,allowing the plants to self-pollinate, harvesting the seed in bulk andthen using a sample of the seed harvested in bulk to plant the nextgeneration. Also, instead of self pollination, directed pollinationcould be used as part of the breeding program.

Mutation Breeding

Mutation breeding is another method of introducing new traits into wheatcultivar WB06-1702-2. Mutations that occur spontaneously or areartificially induced can be useful sources of variability for a plantbreeder. The goal of artificial mutagenesis is to increase the rate ofmutation for a desired characteristic. Mutation rates can be increasedby many different means including temperature, long-term seed storage,tissue culture conditions, radiation, such as X-rays, Gamma rays (e.g.cobalt 60 or cesium 137), neutrons, (product of nuclear fission byuranium 235 in an atomic reactor), Beta radiation (emitted fromradioisotopes such as phosphorus 32 or carbon 14), or ultravioletradiation (optionally from 2500 to 2900 nm), or chemical mutagens (suchas base analogues (5-bromo-uracil), related compounds (8-ethoxycaffeine), antibiotics (streptonigrin), alkylating agents (sulfurmustards, nitrogen mustards, epoxides, ethylenamines, sulfates,sulfonates, sulfones, lactones), azide, hydroxylamine, nitrous acid, oracridines. Once a desired trait is observed through mutagenesis thetrait may then be incorporated into existing germplasm by traditionalbreeding techniques. In addition, mutations created in other wheatplants may be used to produce a backcross conversion of wheat cultivarWB06-1702-2 that comprises such mutation. Further embodiments of theinvention are the treatment of WB06-1702-2 with a mutagen and the plantproduced by mutagenesis of WB06-1702-2.

Breeding with Molecular Markers

Molecular markers, which include markers identified through the use oftechniques such as Isozyme Electrophoresis, Restriction Fragment LengthPolymorphisms (RFLPs), Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs),Arbitrarily Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction (AP-PCR), DNA AmplificationFingerprinting (DAF), Sequence Characterized Amplified Regions (SCARs),Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLPs), Simple Sequence Repeats(SSRs) and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), may be used in plantbreeding methods utilizing wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2. IsozymeElectrophoresis and RFLPs have been widely used to determine geneticcomposition.

SSR technology is currently the most efficient and practical markertechnology; more marker loci can be routinely used and more alleles permarker locus can be found using SSRs in comparison to RFLPs. SingleNucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) may also be used to identify the uniquegenetic composition of the invention and progeny varieties retainingthat unique genetic composition. Various molecular marker techniques maybe used in combination to enhance overall resolution. Wheat DNAmolecular marker linkage maps have been rapidly constructed and widelyimplemented in genetic studies.

One use of molecular markers is QTL mapping. QTL mapping is the use ofmarkers which are known to be closely linked to alleles that havemeasurable effects on a quantitative trait. Selection in the breedingprocess is based upon the accumulation of markers linked to the positiveeffecting alleles and/or the elimination of the markers linked to thenegative effecting alleles from the plant's genome.

Molecular markers can also be used during the breeding process for theselection of qualitative traits. For example, markers closely linked toalleles or markers containing sequences within the actual alleles ofinterest can be used to select plants that contain the alleles ofinterest during a backcrossing breeding program. The markers can also beused to select for the genome of the recurrent parent and against thegenome of the donor parent. Using this procedure can minimize the amountof genome from the donor parent that remains in the selected plants. Itcan also be used to reduce the number of crosses back to the recurrentparent needed in a backcrossing program. The use of molecular markers inthe selection process is often called genetic marker enhanced selection.Molecular markers may also be used to identify and exclude certainsources of germplasm as parental varieties or ancestors of a plant byproviding a means of tracking genetic profiles through crosses.

Production of Double Haploids

The production of double haploids can also be used for the developmentof plants with a homozygous phenotype in the breeding program. Forexample, a wheat plant for which wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 is a parentcan be used to produce double haploid plants. Double haploids areproduced by the doubling of a set of chromosomes (1N) from aheterozygous plant to produce a completely homozygous individual. Thiscan be advantageous because the process omits the generations of selfingneeded to obtain a homozygous plant from a heterozygous source.

Haploid induction systems have been developed for various plants toproduce haploid tissues, plants and seeds. The haploid induction systemcan produce haploid plants from any genotype by crossing a selected line(as female) with an inducer line. Such inducer lines for maize includeStock 6. Methods for obtaining haploid plants have also been disclosedin the art.

Thus, an embodiment of this invention is a process for making asubstantially homozygous WB06-1702-2 progeny plant by producing orobtaining a seed from the cross of WB06-1702-2 and another wheat plantand applying double haploid methods to the F1 seed or F1 plant, or toany successive filial generation. Based on studies in maize andcurrently being conducted in wheat, such methods would decrease thenumber of generations required to produce a variety with similargenetics or characteristics to WB06-1702-2.

In particular, a process of making seed retaining the molecular markerprofile of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 is contemplated, such processcomprising obtaining or producing F1 seed for which wheat cultivarWB06-1702-2 is a parent, inducing doubled haploids to create progenywithout the occurrence of meiotic segregation, obtaining the molecularmarker profile of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2, and selecting progeny thatretain the molecular marker profile of WB06-1702-2. Descriptions ofother breeding methods that are commonly used for different traits andcrops are known.

Further reproduction of the variety can occur by tissue culture andregeneration. Tissue culture of various tissues of wheat andregeneration of plants therefrom is well known and widely published.Thus, another aspect of this invention is to provide cells which upongrowth and differentiation produce wheat plants having essentially allof the morphological and physiological characteristics of wheat cultivarWB06-1702-2. Means for preparing and maintaining plant tissue cultureare well known in the art. By way of example, a tissue culturecomprising organs has been used to produce regenerated plants.

In Table 2, yield and agronomic data collected in the Eastern UnitedStates (including parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas,Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Virginia, Tennessee) in 2013 and 2014 for wheatcultivar WB06-1702-2 are compared to three commercially availablevarieties.

TABLE 2 Comparative Data for Cultivar WB06-1702-2 and Selected VarietiesEntries Test Plant Stripe Lodg- Winter Compared Yield Weight HeightRust* ing* Hardiness* WB06- 78.4 58.8 96.52 4 1.1 1.3 1702-2 WB-700 77.858.5 96.52 6 1.3 1 Deviation 0.57 0.34 −0.71 −1.75 −0.19 0.25 p-value0.1 # Obs 24 24 8 1 12 2 Years 1 1 1 1 1 1 Win 46 42 86 100 100 0Percent Test Mean 75.1 57.9 37 3 1.3 1.3 WB06- 77.7 57.5 93.98 4 1.5 1.31702-2 BRANSON 71.6 56.5 86.36 1 1.3 1.3 Deviation 6.02 1.03 5.90 2.690.15 0.00 p-value 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.05 # Obs 55 55 14 4 20 2 Years 3 3 32 3 1 Win 84 75 0 0 50 50 Percent Test Mean 74.1 56.8 36 4 1.5 1.3 WB06-77.7 55.3 81.28 1.9 1702-2 KIDWELL 76.8 53.5 78.74 1.8 Deviation 0.951.85 2.96 0.10 p-value 0.01 # Obs 20 20 3 5 Years 1 1 1 1 Win 50 100 0 0Percent Test Mean 72.8 54.2 31 1.8 *Ratings are based on a 1-9 scalewith 1 being the most resistant and 9 being the most susceptible.

DEFINITIONS

In the description and tables, a number of terms are used. In order toprovide a clear and consistent understanding of the specification andclaims, the following definitions are provided:

A: When used in conjunction with the word “comprising” or other openlanguage in the claims, the words “a” and “an” denote “one or more.”

About: Refers to embodiments or values that include the standarddeviation of the mean for a given item being measured.

Allele: Any of one or more alternative forms of a gene locus, all ofwhich relate to one trait or characteristic. In a diploid cell ororganism, the two alleles of a given gene occupy corresponding loci on apair of homologous chromosomes.

Aphids: Aphid resistance is scored on a scale from 1 to 9; a score of 4or less indicates resistance. Varieties scored as 1 to 5 appear normaland healthy, with numbers of aphids increasing from none to up to 300per plant. A score of 7 indicates that there are 301 to 800 aphids perplant and that the plants show slight signs of infestation. A score of 9indicates severe infestation and stunted plants with severely curled andyellow leaves.

Awn: Awn is intended to mean the elongated needle-like appendages on theflower- and seed-bearing head at the top of the cereal grain plant(e.g., wheat, common wheat, rye). Awns are attached to the lemmas.Lemmas enclose the stamen and the stigma as part of the florets. Floretsare grouped in spikelets, which in turn together comprise the head.

Backcrossing: A process in which a breeder repeatedly crosses hybridprogeny, for example a first generation hybrid (F₁), back to one of theparents of the hybrid progeny. Backcrossing can be used to introduce oneor more single locus conversions from one genetic background intoanother.

Cell: As used herein, the term cell includes a plant cell, whetherisolated, in tissue culture, or incorporated in a plant or plant part.

Chromatography: A technique wherein a mixture of dissolved substancesare bound to a solid support followed by passing a column of fluidacross the solid support and varying the composition of the fluid. Thecomponents of the mixture are separated by selective elution.

Crossing: The mating of two parent plants.

Cross-pollination: Fertilization by the union of two gametes fromdifferent plants.

Disease Resistance: As used herein, the term disease resistance ordisease resistant is defined as the ability of plants to restrict theactivities of a specified disease, such as a fungus, virus, orbacterium.

Disease Tolerance: As used herein, the term disease tolerance or diseasetolerant is defined as the ability of plants to endure a specifieddisease (such as a fungus, virus, or bacterium) or an adverseenvironmental condition and still perform and produce in spite of thisdisorder.

Emasculate: The removal of plant male sex organs or the inactivation ofthe organs with a cytoplasmic or nuclear genetic factor or a chemicalagent conferring male sterility.

Embryo: The embryo is the small plant contained within a mature seed.

Emergence (EMR): The emergence score describes the ability of a seed toemerge from the soil after planting. Each genotype is given a 1 to 9score based on its percent of emergence. A score of 1 indicates anexcellent rate and percent of emergence, an intermediate score of 5indicates an average rating and a 9 score indicates a very poor rate andpercent of emergence.

Enzymes: Molecules which can act as catalysts in biological reactions.

Essentially all of the morphological and physiological characteristics:The characteristics of a plant are recovered that are otherwise presentwhen compared in the same environment, other than occasional varianttraits that might arise during backcrossing or direct introduction of atransgene.

F₁ Hybrid: The first generation progeny of the cross of two nonisogenicplants.

Gene Converted (Conversion): Gene conversion or a gene converted plantrefers to plants that are developed by backcrossing, geneticengineering, or mutation, wherein essentially all of the morphologicaland physiological characteristics of a variety are recovered, inaddition to the one or more traits transferred into the variety via theback-crossing technique, genetic engineering, or mutation.

Gene Silencing: Gene silencing refers to the interruption or suppressionof the expression of a gene at the level of transcription ortranslation.

Genotype: The genetic constitution of a cell or organism.

Glume Blotch: Glume Blotch is a disease of wheat characterized by small,irregular gray to brown spots or blotches on the glumes, althoughinfections may also occur at the nodes. The disease is caused by thefungus Stagonosporum nodorum (may also be referred to as Septorianodorum). Resistance to this disease is scored on scales that reflectthe observed extent of the disease on the leaves of the plant. Ratingscales may differ but in general a low number indicates resistance andhigher number suggests different levels of susceptibility.

Haploid: A cell or organism having one set of the two sets ofchromosomes in a diploid.

Head: As used herein, the term head refers to a group of spikelets atthe top of one plant stem. The term spike also refers to the head of aplant located at the top of one plant stem.

Herbicide Resistance: As used herein, the term herbicide resistance orherbicide resistant is defined as the ability of plants to survive andreproduce following exposure to a dose of herbicide that would normallybe lethal to the plant.

Herbicide Tolerance: As used herein, the term herbicide tolerance orherbicide tolerant is defined as the ability of plants to survive andreproduce after herbicide treatment.

Insect Resistance: As used herein, the term disease resistance ordisease resistant is defined as the ability of plants to restrict theactivities of a specified insect or pest.

Insect Tolerance: As used herein, the term disease tolerance or diseasetolerant is defined as the ability of plants to endure a specifiedinsect or pest and still perform and produce in spite of this disorder.

Kernel Weight: As used herein, the term kernel weight refers to theweight of individual kernels (also called seeds), often reported as theweight of one thousand kernels or “1000 Kernel Weight.”

Leaf Rust: Leaf Rust is a disease of wheat characterized by pustulesthat are circular or slightly elliptical, that usually do not coalesce,and contain masses of orange to orange-brown spores. The disease iscaused by the fungus Puccinia recondita f. sp. tritici. Infection sitesprimarily are found on the upper surfaces of leaves and leaf sheaths,and occasionally on the neck and awns. Resistance to this disease isscored on scales that reflect the observed extent of the disease on theleaves of the plant. Rating scales may differ but in general a lownumber indicates resistance and higher number suggests different levelsof susceptibility.

Linkage: A phenomenon wherein alleles on the same chromosome tend tosegregate together more often than expected by chance if theirtransmission was independent.

Locus: A locus is a position on a genomic sequence that is usually foundby a point of reference, for example, the position of a DNA sequencethat is a gene, or part of a gene or intergenic region. A locus confersone or more traits such as, for example, male sterility, herbicidetolerance or resistance, insect resistance or tolerance, diseaseresistance or tolerance, modified fatty acid metabolism, modified phyticacid metabolism, modified carbohydrate metabolism or modified proteinmetabolism. The trait may be, for example, conferred by a naturallyoccurring gene introduced into the genome of the variety bybackcrossing, a natural or induced mutation, or a transgene introducedthrough genetic transformation techniques. A locus may comprise one ormore alleles integrated at a single chromosomal location.

Marker: A readily detectable phenotype, preferably inherited incodominant fashion (both alleles at a locus in a diploid heterozygoteare readily detectable), with no environmental variance component, i.e.,heritability of 1.

Maturity: As used herein, the term maturity refers to the stage of plantgrowth at which the development of the kernels is complete.

Or: As used herein is meant to mean “and/or” and be interchangeabletherewith unless explicitly indicated to refer to the alternative only.

Pedigree Distance: Pedigree distance is the relationship amonggenerations based on their ancestral links as evidenced in pedigrees. Itmay be measured by the distance of the pedigree from a given startingpoint in the ancestry.

Percent Identity: Percent identity, as used herein, refers to thecomparison of the homozygous alleles of two wheat varieties. Percentidentity is determined by comparing a statistically significant numberof the homozygous alleles of two developed varieties. For example, apercent identity of 90% between wheat variety 1 and wheat variety 2means that the two varieties have the same allele at 90% of their loci.

Percent Similarity: Percent similarity as used herein refers to thecomparison of the homozygous alleles of a wheat variety such asWB06-1702-2 with another plant, and if the homozygous allele ofWB06-1702-2 matches at least one of the alleles from the other plantthen they are scored as similar. Percent similarity is determined bycomparing a statistically significant number of loci and recording thenumber of loci with similar alleles as a percentage. A percentsimilarity of 90% between WB06-1702-2 and another plant means thatWB06-1702-2 matches at least one of the alleles of the other plant at90% of the loci.

Phenotype: The detectable characteristics of a cell or organism, whichcharacteristics are the manifestation of gene expression.

Plant: As used herein, the term plant includes reference to an immatureor mature whole plant, including a plant from which seed, grain, oranthers have been removed. A seed or embryo that will produce the plantis also considered to be a plant.

Plant Height (Hgt): As used herein, the term plant height is defined asthe average height in inches or centimeters of a group of plants, asmeasured from the ground level to the tip of the head, excluding awns.

Plant Parts: As used herein, the term plant parts (or reference to “awheat plant, or a part thereof”) includes, but is not limited to,protoplasts, callus, leaves, stems, roots, root tips, anthers, pistils,seed, grain, pericarp, embryo, pollen, ovules, cotyledon, hypocotyl,spike, floret, awn, lemma, shoot, tissue, petiole, cells, andmeristematic cells.

Powdery Mildew: Powdery Mildew is a disease of wheat characterized bywhite to pale gray, fuzzy or powdery colonies of mycelia, and conidia onthe upper surfaces of leaves and leaf sheaths (especially on lowerleaves), and sometimes on the spikes. The disease is caused by thefungus Erysiphe graminis f. sp. tritici. Older fungal tissue isyellowish gray. This superficial fungal material can be rubbed offeasily with the fingers. Host tissue beneath the fungal material becomeschlorotic or necrotic and, with severe infections, the leaves may die.Eventually, black spherical fruiting structures may develop in themycelia, and can be seen without magnification. Resistance to thisdisease is scored on scales that reflect the observed extent of thedisease on the leaves of the plant. Rating scales may differ but ingeneral a low number indicates resistance and higher number suggestsdifferent levels of susceptibility.

Progeny: As used herein, progeny includes an F1 wheat plant producedfrom the cross of two wheat plants where at least one plant includeswheat cultivar WB06-1702-2. Progeny further includes, but is not limitedto, subsequent F₂, F₃, F₄, F₅, F₆, F₇, F₈, F₉ and F₁₀ generationalcrosses with the recurrent parental line.

Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL): Quantitative trait loci refer to geneticloci that control to some degree numerically representable traits thatare usually continuously distributed.

Regeneration: The development of a plant from tissue culture.

Rhizoctonia Root Rot: Rhizoctonia Root Rot is a disease of wheatcharacterized by sharp eyespot lesions that develop on basal leafsheaths. The disease is caused by the fungus Rhizoctonia solani. Thelesion margins are dark brown with pale, straw-colored centers and themycelia often present in the centers of lesions are easily removed byrubbing. Roots can also be affected, usually becoming brown in color andreduced in number. The disease can cause stunting and a reduction in thenumber of tillers. Resistance to this disease is scored on scales thatreflect the observed extent of the disease on the leaf sheaths of theplant and on reduced vigor of the plant. Rating scales may differ but ingeneral a low number indicates resistance and higher number suggestsdifferent levels of susceptibility.

Scab or Head Blight: Scab or Head Blight a disease of wheatcharacterized by florets (especially the outer glumes) that becomeslightly darkened and oily in appearance. The disease is caused by thefungus Fusarium which has numerous species. Spores are produced that cangive the spike and shriveled, infected kernels a bright pinkish color.Spores can produce a toxin, deoxynivalenol which can be measured with achemical test. Resistance to this disease can be measured in three ways:the extent of the disease on the spikes of the plant, the percentkernels which are visibly shriveled and the amount of deoxynivalenol inthe kernels. Rating scales may differ but in general a low numberindicates resistance and higher number suggests different levels ofsusceptibility.

SDS Sedimentation: SDS sedimentation (sodium dodecyl sedimentation) testvalues are a measure of the end-use mixing and handling properties ofbread dough and their relation to bread-making quality as a result ofthe dough's gluten quality. Higher SDS sedimentation levels reflecthigher gluten quality.

Self-pollination: The transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigmaof the same plant.

Septoria Leaf Blotch or Speckled Leaf Blotch: Speckled leaf blotch is adisease of wheat, common wheat and durum wheat characterized byirregularly shaped blotches that are at first yellow and then turnreddish brown with grayish brown dry centers, caused by the rust fungusSeptoria tritici. Resistance to this disease is scored on scales thatreflect the observed extent of the disease on the leaves of the plant.Rating scales may differ but in general a low number indicatesresistance and higher number suggests different levels ofsusceptibility.

Single Locus Converted (Conversion) Plant: Plants which are developed bya plant breeding technique called backcrossing and/or by genetictransformation to introduce a given locus that is transgenic in origin,wherein essentially all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of a wheat cultivar are recovered in addition to thecharacteristics of the locus transferred into the variety via thebackcrossing technique or by genetic transformation. It is understoodthat once introduced into any wheat plant genome, a locus that istransgenic in origin (transgene), can be introduced by backcrossing aswith any other locus.

Soil Born Mosaic Virus: Soil born mosaic virus is a disease of wheatcharacterized by mild green to yellow mosaic, yellow-green mottling,dashes, and parallel streaks, most clearly visible on the youngest leaf.Reddish streaking and necrosis at leaf tips sometimes occurs. Stuntingcan be moderate to severe, depending on the variety. The disease iscaused by a virus which is transmitted by a soilborne fungus-likeorganism, Polymyxa graminis, which makes swimming spores that infect theroots of wheat. Resistance to this disease is scored on scales thatreflect the observed extent of the disease on the young plants. Ratingscales may differ, but in general, a low number indicates resistance anda higher number suggests different levels of susceptibility.

Substantially Equivalent: A characteristic that, when compared, does notshow a statistically significant difference (e.g., p=0.05) from themean.

Stem Rust: Stem Rust is a disease of wheat characterized by pustulescontaining masses of spores that are dark reddish brown, and may occuron both sides of the leaves, on the stems, and on the spikes. Thedisease is caused by the fungus Puccinia graminis f. sp. Tritici.Resistance to this disease is scored on scales that reflect the observedextent of the disease on the leaves of the plant. Rating scales maydiffer, but in general, a low number indicates resistance and a highernumber suggests different levels of susceptibility.

Stripe Rust: Stripe rust is a disease of wheat, common wheat, durumwheat, and barley characterized by elongated rows of yellow spores onthe affected parts, caused by a rust fungus, Puccinia striiformis.Resistance to this disease is scored on scales that reflect the observedextent of the disease on the leaves of the plant. Rating scales maydiffer, but in general, a low number indicates resistance and a highernumber suggests different levels of susceptibility.

Test Weight (TWT): As used herein, the term test weight is a measure ofdensity that refers to the weight in pounds of the amount of kernelscontained in a bushel unit of volume.

Tissue Culture: A composition comprising isolated cells of the same or adifferent type or a collection of such cells organized into parts of aplant. Exemplary types of tissue cultures are protoplasts, calli, plantclumps, and plant cells that can generate tissue culture that are intactin plants or parts of plants, such as embryos, pollen, ovules, pericarp,flowers, florets, heads, spikelets, seeds, leaves, stems, roots, roottips, anthers, pistils, awns, stems, and the like.

Transgene: A genetic locus comprising a sequence which has beenintroduced into the genome of a wheat plant by transformation.

DEPOSIT INFORMATION

A deposit of the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2, which is disclosed hereinabove and referenced in the claims, was made with the American TypeCulture Collection (ATCC), 10801 University Blvd., Manassas, Va.20110-2209. The date of deposit is Aug. 4, 2016 and the accession numberfor those deposited seeds of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2 is ATCCAccession No. PTA-123417. All restrictions upon the deposit have beenremoved, and the deposit is intended to meet all of the requirements of37 C.F.R. §1.801-1.809. The deposit will be maintained in the depositoryfor a period of 30 years, or 5 years after the last request, or for theeffective life of the patent, whichever is longer, and will be replacedif necessary during that period.

All of the compositions and methods disclosed and claimed herein can bemade and executed without undue experimentation in light of the presentdisclosure. While the compositions and methods of this invention havebeen described in terms of the foregoing illustrative embodiments, itwill be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations, changes,modifications, and alterations may be applied to the composition,methods, and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the methodsdescribed herein, without departing from the true concept, spirit, andscope of the invention. More specifically, it will be apparent thatcertain agents that are both chemically and physiologically related maybe substituted for the agents described herein while the same or similarresults would be achieved. All such similar substitutes andmodifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to bewithin the spirit, scope, and concept of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

The references cited herein, to the extent that they provide exemplaryprocedural or other details supplementary to those set forth herein, arespecifically incorporated herein by reference.

What is claimed is:
 1. A plant of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2, wherein asample of seed of said cultivar has been deposited under ATCC AccessionNo. PTA-123417.
 2. A plant part of the plant of claim 1, wherein theplant part comprises at least one cell of said plant.
 3. The plant partof claim 2, further defined as head, awn, leaf, pollen, ovule, embryo,cotyledon, hypocotyl, meristematic cell, root, root tip, pistil, anther,floret, seed, pericarp, spike, stem, and callus.
 4. A tissue cultureproduced from the plant part of claim
 3. 5. A wheat plant regeneratedfrom the tissue culture of claim
 4. 6. A seed of wheat cultivarWB06-1702-2, wherein a sample of seed of said cultivar has beendeposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-123417.
 7. A method of producingwheat seed, wherein the method comprises crossing the plant of claim 1with itself or a second wheat plant.
 8. The method of claim 7, whereinthe method is further defined as comprising crossing the plant of wheatcultivar WB06-1702-2 with a second, distinct wheat plant to produce anF₁ hybrid wheat seed.
 9. An F₁ hybrid wheat seed produced by the methodof claim
 8. 10. An F₁ hybrid wheat plant produced by growing the seed ofclaim
 9. 11. A composition comprising the seed of claim 6 comprised inplant seed growth media, wherein a sample of seed of said cultivar hasbeen deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-123417.
 12. The compositionof claim 11, wherein the growth media is soil or a synthetic cultivationmedium.
 13. A plant of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2, further comprising asingle locus conversion, wherein a sample of seed of wheat cultivarWB06-1702-2 has been deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-123417. 14.The plant of claim 13, wherein the single locus conversion comprises atransgene.
 15. A seed that produces the plant of claim
 13. 16. The seedof claim 15, wherein the single locus confers a trait selected from thegroup consisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insectresistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, modified fatty acidmetabolism, abiotic stress resistance, altered seed amino acidcomposition, site-specific genetic recombination, and modifiedcarbohydrate metabolism.
 17. The seed of claim 16, wherein the singlelocus confers tolerance to an herbicide selected from the groupconsisting of glyphosate, sulfonylurea, imidazolinone, dicamba,glufosinate, phenoxy propionic acid, L-phosphinothricin, cyclohexanone,cyclohexanedione, triazine, and benzonitrile.
 18. The seed of claim 16,wherein the single locus further comprises a gene encoding a Bacillusthuringiensis (Bt) endotoxin.
 19. The seed of claim 16, wherein thesingle locus further comprises a gene encoding a protein selected fromthe group consisting of glutenins, gliadins, phytase,fructosyltransferase, levansucrase, α-amylase, invertase and starchbranching enzyme or encoding an antisense of stearyl-ACP desaturase. 20.The seed of claim 15, wherein the single locus conversion comprises atransgene.
 21. The method of claim 8, wherein the method furthercomprises: (a) crossing a plant grown from said F₁ hybrid wheat seedwith itself or a different wheat plant to produce a seed of a progenyplant of a subsequent generation; (b) growing a progeny plant of asubsequent generation from said seed of a progeny plant of a subsequentgeneration and crossing the progeny plant of a subsequent generationwith itself or a second plant to produce a progeny plant of a furthersubsequent generation; and (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) using saidprogeny plant of a further subsequent generation from step (b) in placeof the plant grown from said F₁ hybrid wheat seed in step (a), whereinsteps (a) and (b) are repeated with sufficient inbreeding to produce aninbred wheat plant derived from the wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2.
 22. Amethod of producing a commodity plant product, said method comprisingcollecting the commodity plant product from the plant of claim
 1. 23.The method of claim 22, wherein the commodity plant product is grain,flour, baked goods, cereals, pasta, beverages, livestock feed, biofuel,straw, construction materials, and starches.
 24. A wheat commodity plantproduct produced by the method of claim 23, wherein the commodity plantproduct comprises at least one cell of wheat cultivar WB06-1702-2.